Italy Trip Day Ten -- Our Last Supper

Another beautiful day and a late start. Our hotel, the Accademia, is perfect for this kind of morning-breakfast is lavish and served until 10:00 and it's set just off a pedestrian street with the best shopping in Verona. We found plenty to occupy us before climbing back into the van for the return to Milan. And we must admit that there were many more bags to load after some serious shopping.

We arrived in Milan slightly before noon, and because our rooms weren't ready, the delightful staff at the Hotel Spadari al Duomo served us croissants and caffe in their art-filled lounge. Nice way to settle into the city. We had time for a quick lunch at Peck Italian Bar before joining our Last Supper Tour.

You can get tickets to view the Last Supper without the tour, but they're tough to get. Try this website to see if your travel date is available. We got our tickets through a consolidator and they came with a four-hour tour. A bus took us to the center of town and left us, with a guide, to walk for about an hour.  Our guide, a young Italian woman who seemed to forget she was miked, coughed, choked and mumbled, "Oh, Got. Is bad."  She was quite entertaining, but probably not in the way they intended. We first toured La Scala opera house where we got to see a dress rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet, which was incredibly exciting. We also saw paintings and photographs of Verdi, Rossini, Caruso, Toscanini and other greats of Italian opera.

Then to the Duomo where she explained the history, art, and significance of the massive and beautiful cathedral. The 52 columns are stunning and enormous, the windows awe inspiring, and there's an amazing carving of the birth of Jesus.

Back in the bus, we circled the city with the guide pointing out places of interest. We saw a lot in a little time. A short visit to Castello Sforza where we were able to wander a bit. And then on to the Santa Maria della Grazie where Leonardo da Vinci painted his version of the Last Supper. Benedictine monks dined in the refectory with the painting on the wall. Da Vinci didn't use a fresco style for the Last Supper, he used a dry method that allowed him to work more slowly and rework as needed. There's another painting in the same room, but it doesn't get much respect-that artist did use fresco and had to work very quickly. It's a good painting, but no one remembers his name.

Dinner was at Judy's now favorite restaurant in Milan, La Rosa dei Venti, where chef Matteo and Maitre d' Fabrizio created a lovely menu for us. They actually did three menus-one for non-seafood eaters, one for gluten-free people, and a normal one. We started with bruschetta with fresh tomatoes and anchovies. A delicious pasta with mixed seafood and cream was followed by salt baked sea bass and lightly seared steak with arugula and parmesan. For dessert we all had gluten-free tiramisu, cookies, and biscotti. Karla and Fabrizio selected fabulous wines: Arakena, a Vermentino from Sardinia and La Tunella Refosco, a red that worked with both the fish and the steak.

For dinner Karla chose her sleeveless black knit dress with the zipped off top of her transformer jacket. With shiny silver sandals and a bright new scarf she found along the way, she was ready to celebrate.

Karla played a slide show of photos selected from the ones we'd all taken on the trip-and there were thousands to choose from. We had a great time re-playing the best parts of the journey and coming up with our favorite things. Everything from best hotel to hottest guy and best dish got covered. It's been a fun trip with a varied and interesting itinerary. We hope you'll join us for the next Good News Girlz tour. Watch for an announcement, and signup early -- the slots went quickly for this first tour.